It's way worth the fight
by smickers
Summary: Ryan Marissa Seth and Summer have returned from college and Ryan has a little surprise for Marissa, will Julie Cooper get in the way? RM and some SS


**Disclaimer: I do not own the OC or any of the characters.**

**Prologue: The fantastic four are finishing up their senior year of college and are getting ready to start out on their own. Marissa and Ryan are still together and going strong, Seth and Summer are…well, in the same love hate relationship that we have come to know and understand. They all somehow stayed together, Seth and Summer ended up going to California state together and Ryan and Marissa went to the university of Miami. Summer decided that she wanted to pursue her and Marissa's lifelong dream and go into fashion design. Seth wanted to go on with his comics, Marissa enrolled in a modeling and fashion course and Ryan started taking an architecture class. Now on with the story.**

Ryan was starting to clean up his dorm, school would be over in a few days and he didn't want to focus on cleaning when there were tons of parties to go to. He finished cleaning and opened his drawer on his bedside table. He pulled out a tiny black box and flopped onto his bed. He opened it and pulled out a shiny silver ring. He manipulated it in his hands, running his fingers along the pink diamond that was in the center, with two smaller white diamonds on wither side. He thought about how much meaning this ring had. He thought about Marissa and what she would say if he asked her to marry him. They had been together for four years and after all that they had been through he thought that this was the next step. He put the ring back in its box and returned it to his drawer. He decided that he would wait until after graduation when he met up with Seth and summer back in Newport. He looked at the alarm clock next to his bed, 9:30. He picked up the phone and called Marissa.

"Hello?" a girl's voice answered. He recognized his girlfriend's voice and replied.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

Marissa smiled,

"I'm great, what about you?" Ryan wasn't usually the kind of person to joke, but today was different. He jokingly said,

"I am terrible, I'm not with you and I am going to die if I don't see you soon." He made a dying noise and listened for her to respond.

"Ryan, stop goofing around." She giggled. The two talked for hours until one of them was about to fall asleep.

The next night around one o'clock Ryan, slightly drunk himself, carried a passed out Marissa into his dorm and layed her on his bed. He pulled off his shirt leaving him in a wife beater and before he could change his pants he fell onto his bed and passed out next to his sleeping girlfriend. They woke up 12 hours later, completely hung over, they had to sober up before graduation. Ryan got up and made some coffee. Marissa dragged her body out of bed and collapsed into a chair in the kitchen slash living room of Ryan's dorm. They took plenty of Advil for their headaches and got into their caps and gowns for their graduation ceremony. Since Seth and he had gone to different colleges, sandy came to Ryan's graduation and Kirsten went to Seth's, since she had to work anyway. They lined up and waited to get their diplomas. Ryan and Marissa stood together and held hands, smiling which hid what was left of their hangovers. After graduation Ryan grabbed his suitcases as did Marissa and they loaded them into their cars. They were driving back to Newport where they would meet Seth and Summer on the pier.

When they arrived, Ryan went into the pool house where he had stayed ever since the Cohen's had taken him in, and put his bags on the bed. He opened the front pocket on his suitcase and quickly shoved the ring into his pocket. He looked over toward the door and found someone he didn't expect to see.

"Mrs. Cooper, I wasn't expecting to see you of all people." Ryan stopped what he was doing and stood up. He tried to hide the slight bulge in his pocket where the ring box was, but it couldn't be hidden from the prying eyes of Julie Cooper.

"What's that you have in your pocket?" she asked suspiciously. Ryan's heart started to pound faster and faster, as he tried to think of a way to get Julie off the subject. "Its no use hiding it, I saw the ring." She walked closer to him, he was about to speak but she interrupted him before he got a chance. "And if you are thinking I am going to let some good-for-nothing kid from Chino marry my daughter and screw up any chances of a good life she has, you are almost as crazy as that Oliver kid." Ryan clenched his fist and Julie turned her back and walked out the door. Ryan finished settling in, in his old room and met Marissa waiting for him outside. They hopped into Ryan's black BMW convertible, a gift from Sandy and Kirsten after graduation, and headed to the pier.

They arrived and walked over to the Bait Shop, there they would meet Seth and Summer and talk about college and plans for their return to Newport. Marissa looked at Ryan and could tell he had a lot on his mind.

"Babe, are you ok? You seem a little stressed." She asked, putting a comforting hand on his back. He smiled at her reassuringly and replied,

"Yeah I'm fine, just anxious to see Seth." Marissa leaned in to kiss him and they soon heard the familiar sound of Seth in witty banter with Summer.

"Omigod, ewww!" Marissa looked at Ryan.

"Oh yeah, that's definitely Sum." They turned around and Marissa ran up to her friend and hugged her tightly, they jumped and screamed while they guys hugged. In their manly way and exchanged how-are-you's

"Seth, I gotta talk to you, its really, really important." He got marissas attention and told her that they should go inside. She gladly accepted, and took his hand, the four went into the Bait Shop, where they had hung out many times. The girls went to the ladies room to "freshen up" which would end up taking them a good ten minutes anyway. Ryan pulled Seth closer to him so he could talk to him over the loud music.

"I am gonna propose to Marissa." Seth smiled gleefully and Ryan interjected "You cannot tell Summer, her mouth is even bigger than yours, I already have one bullet to dodge." Seth's face turned serious.

"Wow someone is trying to shoot you over it? What, is this a chino thing?" Ryan dropped his head and shook it.

"Seth, it's a figure of speech, Julie Cooper saw me with the ring, she knows!" Seth nodded in acknowledgement. The girls rushed over and pulled the guys up out of their seats.

"C'mon Cohen lets dance!" Marissa grabbed Ryan's hand and he knew he couldn't get himself out of it. She pulled him out into the middle of the floor under the black lights and pulled him to face her. She started dancing, she noticed he wasn't moving much and she put her hands on his and positioned them on her hips. She moved her hips side to side, straddling his left leg. They got into the beat of the music, Marissa leaned away from him and did a body roll towards him, their hips remaining in contact.

The next morning Ryan woke up to the sound of the TV in the pool house turning on and the rapid clicking of the X button on the playstation controller.

"Seth? Ryan asked groggily, Seth, not taking his eyes off the game simply answered,

"Hey man what's up?" Ryan looked over at his alarm clock, 7:30.

"Seth, its seven thirty in the morning, it's a Saturday, and it's July! Cant you play in the livingroom?" Seth simply responded,

"Nope, parents." Ryan took his empty cup off his nightstand and pegged it at Seth's head.

"Oww! Man no need to go all Chino on me." Seth said, his attention taken from the game. "Besides, Marissa doesn't seem bothered." He said smiling at the sleeping Marissa. Ryan glared at his friend slash brother. Suddenly Marissa woke up to see Seth looking at her.

"Gaaaaahhhhh!" she screamed and hugged herself next to Ryan.

"What are you doing!" she squealed at Seth, hugging the blankets up to her neck.

"What are you doing wearing almost nothing in the bed with Ryan?" Seth asked with a wide smile on his face. He received nothing but a look from Ryan and returned to the house so Marissa could get dressed into more clothing and they could go into the house.

"Wow, does Seth always come in here in the morning?" Marissa asked surprised. Ryan looked at her and replied,

"Yeah notice I never set my alarm." He smiled and kissed her before they went into the house. When they got inside, they saw Sandy trying to keep a frustrated Kirsten away from the food he was cooking for a dinner they were having to celebrate the return of their kids.

"Sandy! Just let me stir the pasta, stirring the pasta wont ruin anything!" She complained.

"Actually honey, there is an art to stirring noodles." Sandy said sarcastically. Ryan looked at Seth and gestured to Kirsten who was heading out to the grill to cook the corn, he hurried after her and told her that he would cook it. Just as Seth took the corn , the doorbell rang, Kirsten greeted Julie Cooper and Caleb Nichol, she ahdnt even begun to speak when Mrs. Cooper welcomed herself into the house. She looked around until her eyes met Ryan's. She walked toward him and whispered in his ear,

"I wont let you ruin my daughter's life, you will not marry her." Ryan jus looked at her and replied,

"Well that's for her to decide isn't it."

I really hope you like this chapter, give me some feedback, all comments are welcome! Ideas are good too!

-Amber


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